Video: Three Weeks In Sri Lanka On Folding Bikes

March 10th, 2017

I’ve just got back from travelling around Sri Lanka – what a lovely island to explore! The country is gifted with a rich history, a biodiverse ecosystem, lots of protected areas, stunning mountain roads, delicious food, warm beaches and very friendly people.

This film takes you to our experiences of Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Dambulla, Sigiriya Rock, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Yala National Park, Mirissa and Galle.

LOGISTICS: We used cardboard boxes to pack the folding bikes for our flight, and left them in Colombo for the return leg home. We didn’t pay anything extra to fly with them, and they weighed 15kg (33lbs) at check-in. Buses are very frequent and always took us. The bikes almost always ended up in the luggage compartment at the back of the bus. We’ve had no problems on trains either, in fact, the Bromptons will stow overhead! The Brompton C-Bag (22L) has been the perfectly-sized bag for our needs. If you’d like to lug around a bit more, go the Brompton T-Bag.

Alee LOVES bikes and travel. So much so he once sold everything he owned to ride through 30 countries to learn a bit about himself and the world. Check out his book Bicycle Touring in One Hour to do the same: http://cyclingabout.com/bicycle-touring-book/

What a great adventure! Watching the video, I thought about the mini-velo as a touring bike. Those are very popular in Japan and South Korea, and are essentialy a full-size bike with small wheels. That allows riders to have a posture that’s identical to a normal bike, a tough frame that’s very agile, and a contained size that is small enough it doesn’t require dismantling to fit in elevators, trains and buses.

Regarding minivelo as a touring option, I’m not all that convinced. This is because the wheelbase is not much shorter than a regular bike. Comparing a 540mm top tube road bike with a 540mm top tube minivelo, the minivelo is actually 38mm longer. When we account for the wheel diameter, the minivelo has an advantage, but it’s only 88mm longer front and rear (or 69mm longer f+r with the longer wheelbase taken into account). That may be the perfect size reduction for elevators, but it would have a very minimal effect in terms of getting a bike on public transport. You really need a folding frame for that! 🙂